Issue Position: A Salute to Our Military

Issue Position

I have had the privilege to serve my country for over 21 years. Now, as a retired Air Force officer, I stand ready to continue my oath of office by fighting to defend our way of life.

The U.S. Constitution mandates "… to provide for the common defense." We live in a world with a growing number of threats to the American way of life. To protect against these threats, our military forces must be the best trained and equipped fighting force in the world.

As your Senator, I will fight to ensure that the necessary resources are provided for the common defense of our country. In order to defeat the global threats to our nation, we must clearly identify our national security interests, identify the enemies that threaten our national security, use our military and intelligence expertise to develop clear mission objectives, and provide the world's greatest fighting force with the necessary resources to WIN. It is time to recognize, and not hide, from our growing threats to our country and allies. Now is not the time to reduce our military capability and negatively impact our readiness.


Sequestration…limiting the funds available to our military is not the appropriate approach! We need responsible restraint through analysis and reengineering of structure, policies, and procedures for better efficiency and effectiveness.

As your Senator, I will continue to support our Colorado military bases. They are the necessary training grounds for response to the worldwide threats. We must be ready to engage the enemy on all fronts to include high altitude, mountainous terrain, and the arid operating fields similar to the locations where many of our threats exist. We must recognize that our service members and their families support and sustain the freedoms we embrace everyday while enduring unbelievable hardships that negatively impact their quality of life. We must remember that each of our military personnel sign a blank check that commits them up to and including their very life, if necessary, to defend our way of life. The loss of any life is more than just a number we hear about in the news. Let us never forget the individual, their name and their story.

Finally, this month we commemorate VE Day in Europe and the seventy years since the end of World War II. It reminds us of the veterans of all conflicts and the need to support those who have paid a heavy price physically, psychologically, and financially for our way of life.

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